Doctor Who “The Ordeal”

See, the lake wasn’t draining. Something was coming out of it and ate a guy. Another guy is upset, and he should be. The great Thal expedition is really only four guys plus Ian and Barbara. OK, now it’s three guys, but you get the idea.

And I know I rail against Ian a lot, but he’s a bland character, a rather ordinary guy presented as a real leader of men and a moral force for the show. Yes, I know this was from the early 60s and wasn’t really going to let a woman or a kid hold that role, but c’mon. The guy is less than generic, such that as the episode ends with a cliffhanger of Ian literally hanging off a cliff, and I found I didn’t really care if he lived or died.

The Doctor, meanwhile, sneaks into the city with Susan to find out both what the Daleks are up to and to see if they can cause problems for the Daleks on their own. The Doctor does manage to cause problems with the radio and TV receptors, but then he’s so busy gloating about his use of simple tools and superior intelligence to cause problems for the simple, slow-moving Daleks that he doesn’t notice he and Susan are surrounded by Daleks.

Oops.

Oh, and the Daleks’ plan is to flood the area with radiation from their reactor since it would take something like 22 days to build another bomb.